message FROM the board chair
Our district has marked some significant achievements this year, despite the continued challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of the pandemic, the district, hospital executive teams and senior clinicians have harnessed cohesive teamwork and expertise under the strong, agile and compassionate leadership of Chief Executive Deb Willcox. This has enabled our staff from all corners of the district to continue to provide safe and high-quality care to patients, consumers and their families and carers, as well as contribute to the NSW Health system response and help our colleagues in other parts of the state. The Board is particularly proud of the resilience and resourcefulness shown by our staff and how the district has been able to strengthen and in some instances forge new working relationships with primary health providers and residential aged care facilities across the district. Work is underway to ensure that the learnings and innovations in the delivery of healthcare, both within a hospital setting and in the community, that we have gained from dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic become part of our business-as-usual activities. This year the Board continued to progress its work on planetary health and climate change, which is a key priority area. In a significant step forward, the district has committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2035 with most of the reduction – 70 to 80 per cent – to be achieved by 2030. This is an ambitious target but I am confident staff in all areas across the district will do their part to make this a reality. To help us reach this target, Dr Kate Charlesworth has been appointed as the Senior Medical Consultant, Planetary Health. The Board is looking forward to Kate helping the district to enhance planetary health and elevate the many environmentally sustainable initiatives already underway. Diversity, inclusion and belonging has remained another key priority area for the Board. The employee networks continue to meet and drive the diversity, inclusion and belonging agenda for the district. This year two additional networks were established – the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) group and women in leadership – and both have already started working on some important initiatives for staff.
The CALD network is looking into professional development opportunities for its members such as English courses available through TAFE focusing on speaking in plain English, accents and phonetics. The Women in Leadership network has been involved in the position statement for the district on zero tolerance against bullying, harassment and other unacceptable conduct and setting up domestic violence competency training for managers. Another significant achievement this year has been the development of the St Leonards Health Campus – Health, Education and Research Precinct Plan . The plan captures the vision to further develop public and private health services as well as education and research sectors into an integrated and innovative precinct. This provides an exciting environment for future investment, employment and innovation. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all the staff for their commitment and contribution to our community and continuing to provide world class care to our patients. The Board looks forward to seeing what next year holds for the many great projects and initiatives underway.
Trevor Danos AM, Chair Northern Sydney Local Health District Board
WWW.NSLHD.HEALTH.NSW.GOV.AU 3
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